1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to an improved aircraft and in particular to a swing tail cargo door on an aircraft. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for moving a swing tail cargo door on an aircraft.
2. Background
A swing tail aircraft may be an aircraft in which the tail portion of the aircraft may be moveably mounted to allow the tail portion to swing or move to expose the inner portion of the aircraft. This tail may also be referred to as a swing tail cargo door.
With the use of the swing tail cargo door, larger cargo, such as, without limitation, vehicles, fuselage sections, or wings, may be placed into and moved out of an aircraft. This type of cargo may be loaded and unloaded from the back of the aircraft with the swing tail in an open position. In this manner, much larger parts may be placed into the aircraft in comparison to more traditional cargo doors.
With large cargo aircraft, the weight of the swing tail door may cause alignment problems when closing the swing tail cargo door. For example, the swing tail door may become out of line vertically with respect to the fuselage. If the alignment varies too much, latching and locking mechanisms may be unable to properly close, latch, and lock the swing tail door in place.
Currently, this kind of misalignment may require aircraft personnel to use equipment to lift the swing tail cargo door upwards to restore the vertical alignment to properly close the swing tail door. Such a process may be manually intensive requiring equipment and personnel to restore the alignment when closing the swing tail door. This type of system, however, may not allow for a quick closure especially in high wind conditions.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for aligning a swing tail cargo door, which overcomes the problems discussed above.